Parents of Price man charged with murder speak out (with videos)

Court records show that Shawn Freemore since age 14 has pleaded guilty to retail theft, burglary, disorderly conduct and drug paraphernalia possession. His parents on Thursday afternoon described him as quiet and mild-mannered and said they are shocked at the murder charge against him.

(Expletive) ANY PIGS READIN THIS! (Expletive) YOU COPS! I CANT SAY IT ENOUGH! (Expletive) YOU (Expletive) YOU (Expletive) YOU! ok lets see...basically everyone calles me Skippy..the name came about because of my friend Megan in 7th grade and it just stuck.. Im 18 and bi, but currently leaning towards guys (sry girls) and just because I like guys doenst mean im one of those flaming "OMG" type of people..in fact..most people are suprised when they find out...kinda funny.. hmm..Im a big time Furry..dont know what it is..dont worry about it. but i do wear a fox tail ,,,^_^,,, and i occasionally wear my ears..still working on them tho :p well lets see..im a pretty open person...u just have to ask. im also usually pretty laid back.. i have a bit of a gutter mind :p if u dont care about that...if u do..i dont really care..haha i love to adventure and discover new things, just a free spirit. my zodiac sign describes me pretty well actually. in a relationship i can be very lovey dovey or cuddly (call me gay or w/e..remember im bi :p ) u just gotta deal with my Furry side possibly coming out haha.. i just love romance and being in romantic situations.. im into a lot of things and im pretty open to trying new suggestions :p P.S. my sn is evilpyropunker3...ok......later

Those lyrics from the song, "Fall Apart," by the "horror" rock/hip-hop group, Twiztid, are at the top left of the MySpace page belonging to Shawn Freemore, 19, of Price Township. Freemore is charged with fatally stabbing Michael Goucher, 21, of Stroudsburg.

Goucher went missing Feb. 3 after saying he was going to meet a friend. Police on Wednesday found Goucher dead in a wooded area near where his car had been found off Snow Hill Road in Price Township. The Monroe County Coroner's Office said he had been stabbed about 20 times.

An initial investigation led to Freemore's Wednesday night arrest. Police are investigating Freemore's story about him meeting Goucher in an online chat room and later "hooking up" for a homosexual tryst that led to him killing Goucher.

Next to the lyrics at the top of Freemore's MySpace page is a picture of a male, presumably him, with white clown makeup on his face and the brim of a dark-colored hat pulled down low to cover his eyes. The page's decorative background is lined with copies of the demonic jack-in-the-box logo of another rock/hip-hop group, Insane Clown Posse. Freemore was arrested wearing an Insane Clown Posse T-shirt.

The page paints a picture of Freemore, who admitted to drug use at the time of his arrest, as being a Juggalo. The Juggalos are a subculture of teenagers and young adults who listen to groups such as Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid, who have recorded songs about violence and madness.

While some view the Juggalos as a violent criminal gang, some Juggalos say they are a harmless substitute family for those who feel like social outcasts.

Online court records show that Freemore since age 14 has pleaded guilty in various cases to retail theft, burglary, disorderly conduct and drug paraphernalia possession. This is the second time he has been charged with a felony, but the first time he has been charged with murder or been in jail.

Freemore's parents live in Rock Ledge Manor Estates, east of where Goucher's body and car were found, in Price Township. When contacted at home Thursday afternoon, they said they knew no more than that he'd been charged with murder.

They described him as quiet, mild-mannered and helpful and said they are shocked at the murder charge against him.

"He's just not that kind of person," said his father, Ryan Freemore, an Arizona native and former construction contractor who has multiple sclerosis and uses a motorized wheelchair.

His mother, Patricia Freemore, an East Stroudsburg native, said, "We're dumbfounded. We're devastated. We don't understand. We hope it's a different story than what we've been hearing."

Even in light of his criminal record, the couple recall no signs from their son's childhood or more recent years to indicate violent or homicidal tendencies.

"He got good grades in school," said Ryan Freemore. "He was always helpful around the house. The friends he brought home were always nice and polite."

The couple know the names of some of Shawn's friends, but don't know where those friends live or much else about them.

Patricia Freemore said she doesn't know what motivated her son to get into past trouble.

"It must have been a different personality we never saw," she said.

The couple has owned the property where they live since 1987, two years after the birth of their daughter, Dawn Freemore, in Arizona, and two years before the birth of their son here. Dawn Freemore lives outside the area and is a store manager.

The Freemores said the only extracurricular activity their son ever took part in was the school chorus in his younger years and that he had not been active in the community. They said he has enjoyed drawing as a hobby.

Shawn Freemore was unemployed at the time of his arrest, having worked briefly at the Mount Pocono Burger King after high school, the couple said. He had moved out on his own about six months ago and had been staying with various friends since then, visiting his parents about twice a week, they said.

"We've been his shelter in the storm whenever he's had no place to go," Ryan Freemore said.

In one of his MySpace page blogs from August, Shawn Freemore talked about feeling "depressed lately."

"I feel like none of the people I call my friends want me there unless I have something (they want)," he wrote. "It might just be by chance or it might be that I'm right. And those days are the biggest reason I'm so dependent on myself and no one else. At least, I try to be.

"Because whenever I put my trust into someone else and hope for something, I get nothing," he wrote. "I mean, I have gotten used to people not really liking me but only pretending to. No one continues to like me after they get to know me. I guess I'm just too weird.

"It just gets harder each day to keep faking a smile and it gets harder each day to stop myself. It just gets harder each day to stay alive."

Ryan and Patricia Freemore said they had never met or heard of Goucher or known he was missing until Stroud Area Regional Police called their home Tuesday and asked to speak to Shawn.

"The police told us Shawn was the last one to see this person," Patricia Freemore said. "I told them we didn't know where Shawn was and that we hadn't seen or heard from him in a while."

The police called again Wednesday, when Patricia Freemore was at work. They did not want to speak to Ryan Freemore because his condition causes him to slur his speech and makes it hard for others to understand him.

Patricia Freemore returned home from work Wednesday, got the message police had left her telling her they would call back or come by the house. She left a return voice message for one of the officers, but no one from police called back after that or stopped by the house.

The couple was unaware that state police took over the investigation once Goucher's body had been found Wednesday.

"About 1 a.m. Thursday, our daughter called," Patricia Freemore said. "She was crying. She told us someone had e-mailed her and told her they had seen the news about Shawn being arrested. We had no idea what was going on."

Deciding to wait until later that day to find out what was going on, the couple went to bed. Patricia Freemore got up several hours later and went to work, where a friend showed her a newspaper article about her son's arrest. She returned home Thursday afternoon.

"I don't know anything beyond what I've seen in the paper," she said. "We get just the Sunday paper, and I don't get to read that until Tuesday. We don't get local news on TV because the satellite is too low in the sky. So, I'm going to try to see my son or contact him somehow."

Shawn Freemore is in Monroe County Correctional Facility without bail awaiting a future district court appearance.